


Konoe Iezane and The Goddess Shokubutsu-Hime

by Angelpuns



Series: Original works [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, Japanese Culture, Japanese Mythology - Freeform, Mythology - Freeform, Original work - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:27:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25655887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angelpuns/pseuds/Angelpuns
Summary: A short story I wrote for a project in my Japanese Art History class. The zine it was apart of was a collaborative effort, but I wrote this part on my own. The other people in my group helped come up with characters and story. Lots of research went into this story, but feel free to comment if something doesn't sound quite right. The class has passed but my need to write something historically accurate has not.Konoe Iezane is a real person (was a real person) while the Goddess Shokubutsu-Hime was based upon Goddesses that were recognized in Japan at the time of the story ( the Early Kamakura period, about 1230 AD )
Series: Original works [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1860184





	Konoe Iezane and The Goddess Shokubutsu-Hime

Konoe Iezane and the Goddess Shokobutsu-hime

This story began many years ago. Past the walls of the Imperial Palace. Past the gates of Kyoto. Past shrines and temples. Standing just beyond fields of rice and barley. A man waits for her. His Goddess. This man is Konoe Iezane, a court noble living within the walls of the Imperial Palace. Disguised as a lowly farmer, he waits for his beloved beneath the unwavering branches of the wild orange tree. It isn’t long before the court noble feels the wind pick up, the gentle stroke of susuki grass against his ankle all too familiar. He holds his breath, closing his eyes for only a moment before opening them again. And there she stands. His Goddess. She, too, is in disguise. However, he knows by the perfect oval of her face and the gentle furrow of her brow that it is her. She moves as if on air, the grass seemingly parting for her as she closes the gap between them. He smiles faintly, the smell of blossoms growing stronger as she neared him. “ Iezane..” she murmurs, her voice soft and wispy as the bowing grass at their feet. She stops just in front of him, a hand reaching out to cup her beloved’s face. She chuckles a little a he leans into the touch, his own hand reaching up and clasping hers. “ Yes, my Goddess..?” he whispers, as if he’s afraid she’ll fade into the spring air just from the sound of his voice, “ I missed you….but this meeting..it’s so sudden…”. Iezane doesn’t say, but he worries. That she’ll reject him, even after all this time. He realized long ago that even a court noble cannot best the presence of a Goddess. The Goddess’ face changes. Her graceful smile slips to reveal an anxious frown, her gaze wavering. “ Oh, my love…” she lets out a shaky breath as she speaks, her face suddenly hidden by her veil. She moves her sleeve to reveal a bundle, swatched in what could only be the softest, most delicate fabric Iezane had ever seen. She pulls her hand away from his, gently tugging at the fabrics to reveal the face of a child beneath the fabric. Iezane knows without question that he is theirs. Neither human nor God. The child barely utters a whimper or a cry, swathed so gently next to his mother's warm chest. Iezane grins - he can’t help it- the child is as beautiful as his Goddess is fair. But she doesn’t seem to join in his happiness. “ my love?” he questions, “ What’s the matter? He’s beautiful, our son…”. She hesitates, before smiling faintly, “ yes...but he cannot stay with me any longer. He is not a god nor a human...soon enough his divinity will run out, as a blessing always does…but I know you will keep our son safe..”. She presses the bundle into Iezane’s arms, her soft smile never falling. The boy becomes restless as he leaves his mother’s warmth, whining and reaching for her. “Iemichi…” she whispers, leaning and placing a kiss on the boy’s forehead. His large eyes widen at the gentleness of it and he is quiet once again. Iezane can only stand in silence, a thousand questions racing through his mind. But he only musters up the courage to ask one. “ Are you leaving me?”. The Goddess looks up at that, producing a flower seemingly from thin air. She tucks it behind Iezane’s ear and cups his cheeks in bother her hands. “ My darling Iezane…” she murmurs, placing a whisper of a kiss on his lips before pulling away. Her appearance shifts before him, her printed obi replaced with robes of shimmering green, red and gold. A crown adorns her head, her hair now flowing out from beneath it. Her feet are no longer touching the ground, a breeze picking up as she begins to dissipate into a thousand dandelion seeds, “ Don’t ever forget me, please” 

https://www.flipsnack.com/E675DADEFB5/konoe-iezane-and-the-goddess-shokobutsu-hime.html (full zine)


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